~ the ramblings of a perambulent and often distracted sojourner

Tag Archives: Abraham

… if one is a denizen of the British Commonwealth, one might begin to expect that one may be soon on the way to receiving a message of congratulations from Buckingham Palace. You’ve hit the ton! Life is complete as you turn the century.

Not only that, they got a name change. Life was not ending; it was just beginning, and they were being summoned into a challenging relationship – one full of grace and great responsibility. And the story begins to unfold.

Abraham and Sarah, the parents of three great world faith traditions, become exemplars of what it means to be in relationship with the Source of all Being.

As a teenager, I looked up the meaning of my first given name. My then prudish temperament was somewhat taken aback to see that it was associated with Dionysus, the debauched Greek god of revelry and wine.

Had I been raised as an ancient Hebrew, it could have been far worse, for names were given to reflect something of the inner nature and projected destiny of its bearer. Hence the story in Genesis 17:1-16, of Abram’s name becoming “Abraham” – the “progenitor of many nations.” The world’s three great monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – look to Abraham as the foundation of a covenantal relationship with the Divine.

The Lenten journey, then, travels through this reflection and realisation that we continue to be part of this unbreakable covenant relationship with the Creator.

Oh, and I discovered that Dionysius, in the Greek pantheon, is also a source of new life, but modesty forbids me to reveal that! (And there are several Saints Dionysius I can choose to relate to as well)

Today’s Lenten reflection takes us into the Apostle Paul’s efforts for us to “find ourselves” on faith’s journey. Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 simply mirrors the fact that Abrahamic faith, not slavish adherence to the letter of the law, does the job. Paul counts Abraham, even with all his demonstrated human flaws, as the epitome of human aspiration – simply because of what he continually and intuitively risks on trust in the mysterious God who calls him forth. In such he finds his true self. The stumbling, the losses, the humiliation along the way are inseparable from the accomplishments, the gains and exhilaration, and must be owned as part and parcel of our completion.

Lenten reflections take us a little further into Abram’s epic but troubled journey. Genesis 12:4b-20 – the patriarch eventually finds himself in Egypt and, for cargo and self-preservation, makes his presumably comely wife (Sarai) available to the Pharaoh. Hardly a salubrious beginning for the father of the world’s three major monotheistic faiths!

Stories of faith are inevitably messy affairs. We wonder how its going to end up for Abram (yet to be named Abraham), the great epitome of faith, when he gives in so readily to fear and expediency – especially when anxiety and the desirability of the quick fix are at the source of many of today’s woes, personally and politically.

We first meet him in Genesis 12:1-4a, under his old handle, Abram. Already a senior citizen of Ur, he sets out for places unknown at the age of 75. Today, we would probably report him as a missing person, fearing that he had gone wandering off in a haze of dementia.

Abram’s journey, however, is the common touch point for Jewish, Christian and Muslim adherents worldwide. He is our faith ancestor.

If followers of the Way of Jesus are ever looking for for an entry point for conversation with Jewish or Muslim neighbours and co-workers, an invitation to mutual reflection of the journey of Abram and his kith and kin into uncharted lands and encounters could be a promising beginning.

Well, no-one said that preaching on Genesis 22 would be easy – YHWH tests Abraham’s faith by calling on him to sacrifice his son Isaac then stops him mid-strike of the knife.

The story contains all the things that shock and offend modern sensibility. We find it almost impossible to get beyond the ancient patriarchy, child sacrifice, and seeming divine capriciousness that are the hallmarks of this narrative.

We either flee from this story or fight it hard. Its so-called testimony to Abraham’s “blind faith” seems disingenuous. Better to strive with the human dilemma of long awaited realised hope challenged by unimaginable choices and a trust that comes through struggle. These are themes that find expression in stories people have told me this week and which are present in the Abraham story.

This morning I told a story of a preacher who, in wrestling with this text, found nothing beautiful and uplifting in it, and could only weep before the congregation. In doing so she gave them permission to embrace their own lament and find a place where their faith spoke of providence. Indeed this was good news.

Feedback over coffee was varied and vigorous. There were those who wanted to defend Abraham as someone who was on a learning curve. There were others who felt a connection with the struggle and who could begin to name the tensions between hope and ultimate trust, even when facing some significant blows.

Maybe not much was resolved, but there was some significant engagement.

In the end, Abraham and Isaac on Mt Moreh is a Hebrew story – and such narratives are invariably open-ended, inviting us in. Maybe that’s why they’ve been around for a long time!

Genesis 22:1-14 is one of the texts up for tomorrow. Although I’d rather spend time on Matthew 10:40-42, the call of YHWH on Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice is the one that will have everyone asking questions.

“What sort of a God would ask this of a parent?” we ask. The fact that we do not ask the same question as we send our sons off to war or sacrifice our children’s environmental health on altars of economic expediency does not lessen the impact of this ancient story upon us.

It’s often told as a story that illustrates the superiority of blind faith. There’s more at stake here. In the big story, Abraham and Sarah represent those who are the recipients of a fragile promise of continuing life. For Abraham, it is through the long awaited gift of a son and thus future progeny. Now he is asked to surrender the evidence of even this slender hope. He is fully present both to the provider of hope and to the apple of his eye, Isaac. When YHWH speaks, and when Isaac questions, Abraham’s words are the same “Here I am.” The narrative understates Abraham’s emotional state of mind – in fact doesn’t discuss it at all. It’s left for the reader to imagine the anguish of proceeding in trust “that God will provide” even though circumstances seem to cry out and contradict such a stance.

Abraham’s testing – the cruel craftiness of a capricious Creator?
Or a setting that provides encouragement for those who ponder providence?

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